Rise of the Voodoo Queen
by KaeganIV
Summary: After Marie's death, her spirit goes to her long-lost daughter, Celeste. Marie tells Celeste that she must take her rightful crown as the new Voodoo Queen. With the guidance of the new Supreme and Marie Laveau's tenacious spirit she must use her recently discovered powers to prove herself worthy enough to lead an entire religion.
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1: Find the Coven.**

 **[1]**

Marie's reflection showed in the water outside of Celeste's two-story boat house. Celeste was already on deck fishing for her dinner. Marie's mouth moved but no sound escaped her lips, only bubbles. She strained to hear. "I can't understand what you're saying Mama. You're under water."

Marie shook her head disapprovingly. Hearing wasn't necessary for Celeste to know that Marie had sucked her teeth. She had always believed that she was a disappointment to her mother. Marie never bothered to tell her otherwise. She motioned for Celeste to come closer and she did so cautiously.

" _Oh God, what does she want with me this time? She only comes to see me for MoneyGrams."_ Celeste was responsible for paying off Marie's gambling debts, buying her concert tickets for every rap concert that came to town, and keeping her decked out in Alexander McQueen. Marie had Hermés taste with a Michael Kors budget. It seemed as if she cared about money more than her own daughter. Nevertheless, Celeste would continue to send packages to Marie's door and money to her account until her dying day, a day that was never supposed to come.

"What? I know you want something Mama. You have a lot of nerve to keep asking me for so much money after all those times you told me to stay away from you. I'm tired of it. I've _been_ tired of it for the last 170 years." Celeste flipped her long chocolate curls over her right shoulder and crossed her arms.

Marie's eyes glowed red. This was never a good sign. Most likely Celeste was about to have her voodoo doll stabbed in the ass. "COME HERE!" Marie yelled so loudly that the sound penetrated the air and the boat shook. Marie motion her for to get in the swamp water with her.

Celeste figured it was best to follow Marie's instructions before she decided to sink her bank blowing home. She had saved for years to buy it. Marie had been jealous that Celeste could afford such a nice place. After all, Marie was the legend, the most infamous voodoo practitioner in the world, loved and feared by all.

" _Psssh."_ Celeste thought to herself. _"All the power in the world and she still can't turn a dime into a dollar. Been here for over two centuries, jealous of her own child and with the same pissy mood as a teenager. Hmph. Trying to fuck up my boat."_ Celeste knew Marie was in her head but didn't care, hell, she wanted her mother to know how outraged she was with her bad attitude and crazy antics. She knew the pin would hit her ass soon.

Pissed, Marie's eyes continued to glow. Her mouth made more and more bubbles as she attempted to go off. Celeste couldn't hear her now that she wasn't yelling. She kicked off her Gucci thigh highs and took off her Rolex. It slipped out of her hand and landed in the water. "SHIT!" She slid into the swamp. Marie snatched her foot and pulled her under the murky water.

 _"Oh, God! She's finally going to kill me!"_ Marie was the only person on earth who could. Her immortality carried on to Celeste as soon as she exited the womb. She was the first baby Marie promised to Legba, but before it became time for him to take her to hell Marie traded Celeste with another newborn and convinced him that it was her own. To keep Celeste hidden she was sent away the night she was born. Marie had given her to a white woman who lived in the very same swamp that she was about to drown in.

"I'm not killin' you fool!" Marie let go of her foot, but Celeste didn't float to the top. It was no longer brown and murky. It was so clear that she could see her mother perfectly. She saw her shimmering tignon, gold hoop earrings, and red stained lips. "If I wanted to then I would have done it already."

"I can hear you now." Celeste realized that she was able to breathe. Her neck tickled, and she brought the tips of her fingers to it. It was both slimy and ridged. She had gills.

"That's the point of you gettin' in the water." Marie studied her carefully. "Well, you still lookin' like a teenager. Remind me of how old you are."

"I'm 185 years old Mama. I'm your only child. How can you not know?" Marie had asked Celeste this question her entire life. She didn't understand how Marie could call herself a mother. For the first 15 years of her life Marie shooed Celeste away whenever she would try to visit her in town. Marie claimed it was to protect her. If it got around to Papa Legba that her daughter was still alive he'd send them to hell without a second thought. At the time it broke Celeste's heart and she vowed that she would never look for Marie again. Soon after Celeste made that final decision Marie started appearing in her dreams every so often to communicate. She had never made an appearance in the swamp water before.

"It gets hard to remember after 80. Don't take it personal Lily Pad." Lily Pad was the nickname Marie had given her. It was more to tease her for living in a swamp than to show any affection towards her. Honestly, Celeste had never seen her show any affection to anyone other than Dolores, the woman who lost her son to the Klan in 1961.

"Lily Pad? Mama stop picking. You were the one that sent me out here. You didn't give a damn about me." The water masked her tears

"Hush. If I didn't give a damn about you then you wouldn't be alive now. You'd be a little baby flyin' around in heaven like the rest of 'em. Even I'm not heartless enough to send away my own kin." Marie checked her nails. She felt horrible about what she allowed to happen to those children, but she'd never let anyone know. The colder she seemed, the more respect she gained from those both living and dead. There was nothing she could do about it now anyway.

" _But pretty damn near."_ Celeste thought. _"Handing over souls of the innocent seems like the greatest sin."_

Marie sucked her teeth and put her hands on her hips. "And nobody told you that you had to live in this swamp forever. You could have lived anywhere you wanted outside of New Orleans but instead you cruise around in this fancy boat getting' algae all over it like you don't have no home training."

"Well, I'm content here. I work, I can order whatever I want from Amazon and meditate without being interrupted. This is my home. I belong here."

"My God, I give you the gift of immortality, but you don't even bother tryin' to live a decent life." Marie groaned. "You don't have no friends, ain't been nowhere past the local redneck supermarket to wear all of your flashy clothes and jewels, and don't have many notches on your headboard I'm assumin'. Live your best life now that I'm gone. Papa Legba has no business lurkin' around anymore."

"Gone where?" Celeste raised an eyebrow. Was she going to another shop? Another city? She secretly hoped that Marie was planning to live on the boat with her, but she knew better.

"I'm in hell." Mare said solemnly.

Celeste stretched her eyes. "You're dead? HOW?" This was probably just another one of Marie's games she liked to play on her. She always got a kick out of how gullible Celeste could be.

"Remember that horror in a box I told you about years and years ago? Delphine LaLaurie."

"Barely." She waited to hear her mother's explanation.

"A coven of white witches dug her out of the coffin I banished her to and let the racist bitch live with 'em for weeks!" She made wild hand gestures for dramatic effect. Drama. That word summed up Marie to a T.

With that little reminder every memory came flooding back to her. Delphine LaLaurie was a socialite in New Orleans during the 1830s. She had become known for torturing slaves. After she turned Bastien into a minotaur, Marie killed her family, gave her everlasting life, and put her in the ground to listen as life resumed without her. "Why would they do that? Didn't they know all of the horrible things she'd done?"

"The hell if I know. Those bitches probably just wanted to use her against me. They broke the truce when they came on my territory lookin' to start a war. Long story short, I joined the white witches to end that witch huntin' company, Delphi Trust and-"

"They aren't witch hunters. They're a financial company."

"Look at you, buyin' in to all that mess. You believe everythin' the internet tells you." She rolled her eyes so hard that Celeste thought they were going to get lost in her head. "As I was sayin' before you so rudely cut me off, Delphine had some fool knock me out with one of his old stanky dolls. A grown man with dolls, can you believe that? A damn cabbage patch kid brought an end to the Great Marie Laveau! When I came to, Delphine was choppin' me apart. I wasn't nothing but a wing, two breasts and a thigh. By the end, I was just a shit talkin' head. She scrambled my body parts all over town."

Celeste thought for a while, "But how did that kill you?"

"It was Queenie's big ole ass. She used to be one of us but she talked Papa Legba into sendin' me to hell before my time. She told him that I wouldn't be able to carry out my end of the deal next year because I was all over the place." Marie put her hands on her round hips. "To think that I took that girl under my wing and she turned around and did this!"

Celeste knew her mother wasn't completely innocent. A person wouldn't try to get someone else sent to hell for no reason. "What did she have against you? What did you do to her?"

"I left her for dead." Marie said simply. It was as if she hadn't even realized that she had done anything wrong.

"I told you that eventually you were going to be made into a fool for treating people the way you do."

"Oh, shut up before I drag you back to hell with me." Marie threatened.

"Is it as bad as they say? Fire and brimstone?" Celeste didn't think anyone deserved that bad of a punishment, not even Marie.

"No, nothin' like that. It's your own version of hell. Whatever makes you the most miserable just keeps happenin' over and over. It's on a time loop." Marie had only been dead for a week, but it felt like years.

"And what makes you the most miserable?"

"I'm stuck torturin' innocent girls." Her mood turned grim.

"That's what makes you the most miserable? I thought it would be having me around."

"Well you ain't in hell with me yet. It might change once you get here."

Fed up, Celeste started to swim to the top of the water. Marie pulled her by her foot again. "I'm jokin' Lily Pad. With all those Christian books you write, you'll probably be the only one I know who actually makes it into heaven."

"There's nothing I can do to bring you back? What if I find your parts?" Even with a detailed map she'd never be able to find every part of Marie. She only knew of one place in New Orleans and that was Cornrow City.

"I've never known anyone to bring a witch back from hell. My fate is sealed." Marie sighed.

"At least you aren't the one being tortured. I'm finding it hard to feel sorry for you."

"Fuck you! I'm not lookin' for sympathy. The only reason I'm here is to pass on my crown."

"What crown?" Celeste only saw the turban on her head.

"I'm talkin' figurately." Marie seemed to be annoyed with Celeste's naivety. "You the next in line to be Voodoo Queen. The Supreme to the white witches has taken it upon herself to appoint Dinah Stevens as the new priestess. Everything I had should belong to my next of kin, which is you. Take your rightful place as the true Voodoo Queen." She said smoothly.

"How am I supposed to do that?" She didn't even know that white witches existed, let alone what a Supreme was and where she got her authority.

"Find the coven. Cordelia will have you perform the seven wonders. Dinah can do six, but she was the only one who wanted the title."

Cordelia? Dinah? Who were these women? "I'm not a witch. I've never performed any magic before."

"Because I took your power. With me gone my magic has flowed into you. You can do the seven wonders because I could. In our community a Voodoo Queen has just as much power as the Supreme of the Salem descendants." It was just like Marie to hog what should have belonged to them both.

Celeste panicked. "I don't' even know what the seven wonders are. How am I expected to do them?"

"Find the coven. Take your crown. Find the Coven. Take your crown. Find the coven. Take your crown." Marie's echo started to fade. The water took on its muddy color. Celeste's throat tightened. She couldn't breathe.

She woke up in bed choking on dirty water and coughing up algae. She gasped for air. Her hair and gown were soaking wet. The 1,800-thread-count sheets would never be the same. " _That's not possible. She can't be dead. She was never supposed to die."_ This had been another one of Celeste's nightmares. Even though she wasn't close to her mother, she was still the only person she had in the world. The white woman who raised her abandoned her at only ten years old.

" _Take yo' ass into town and see that I'm the only thing people are talkin' 'bout."_ This was a first. She had never heard Marie's voice in her head before.


	2. Chapter 2

[2]

Celeste roamed the ninth ward in her little black Saint Laurent dress with oversized sleeves. It had been several months since she ventured out for food. With everything that occurred earlier that day, it slipped her mind that it was Halloween night. She saw several groups of children roaming the streets. There was one group with three little boys and a girl who appeared to be a few years younger than Celeste looked. Two of the boys were wrapped in toilet tissue from head to toe and the youngest was dressed as the King of Pop. The girl was Hermione Granger from Harry Potter.

Marie used to howl laughing at J.K. Rowling's little fantasy world. "Look at this mess! Voldemort? I dare a snake looking motherfucker to step to me, the Great Marie Laveau." She loved adding in that last part. "And what's all this nonsense I hear about Dumbledore being gay?"

"Shit! They're about to talk to me. What do I say? Besides Skype, I can't remember the last time I talked face to face with someone!" She noticed that she was trembling. Trembling because of children! Oh, if Marie could see her now she'd get a kick out of this. How was she supposed to lead an entire religion with social anxiety? Sure, she had ventured out to the very edge of town once or twice a year, but she always avoided talking to people. She wanted to hide behind the nearest bush. She backed away, but the boy dressed as Michael Jackson caught her hand. He appeared to be around five.

"Hi! I saw you on tv. I'm MJ." He did a little spin and stood on his tip toes like Michael.

"TV? I've never been on TV before. You must have me confused with someone else." She held out her hand for him to shake. That felt like the proper thing to do. "I'm Celeste."

He didn't try to hide his disappointment but shook her hand anyway. "Nice to meet you." He mumbled. He was ready to move on to the next house.

The older sister scoffed. "I told you she wasn't Zendaya!"

Zendaya? Celeste had heard of her before. She was a cute little girl with her own show on the Disney channel. Little girl. Celeste always forgot that she still looked like a teenager herself. Not that she was complaining. It would be hell on earth if she looked like she had lived each one of her 185 years. She was thankful for Marie's immortal genes.

"Who are you supposed to be with all that black on? A witch?" The girl popped her bubble gum one last time before spitting it out on the curb. There was a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Celeste thought for a second. She figured that it was a possibility. "Yeah, I guess so." She adjusted her felt fedora.

"Careful who you tell Chile." She heard Marie warn.

"I actually think that hat would look better on me." She stared Celeste up and down. It was no doubt that she was the school bully.

"Look at her ole scheming ass." Celeste thought to herself. She remembered why she hated kids. She had a few run ins with them back when she would try to visit Marie. "This hat costs almost $700." She got down to her eye level. "You can eat shit."

The girl didn't back down. "You come to my neighborhood talking trash and expect to walk away with everything you have on? I'm going to tell my brother those are real Saint Laurent heels you're wearing." She unwrapped a blue airhead and stuffed it all in her mouth.

"Damn kids." She realized that if she was going to start roaming around town like a real New Orleanian she was going to have to toughen up. She dreaded seeing how the adults acted nowadays.

She heard Marie's voice in her head. "Remember who you are."

Celeste could feel a fire burning inside her. She had never felt anything like this before. Was this how Marie felt every time she got pissed off? It was going to be harder than anything she'd ever done to fill her mother's shoes. She was just as scared of herself as the children were.

The kids screamed as they ran away. Their candy was everywhere in the street. "HER EYES ARE RED! HER EYES ARE RED!"

"Great, the Voodoo Queen knows how to scare children. Big deal." Still, she couldn't help but feel a little proud of herself.

Marie's shop wasn't where she left it 170 years before. Celeste took out her phone and typed Cornrow City into Google maps. She'd never used it before and she struggled to understand it. "Four miles or four minutes?"

"You will arrive in four minutes."

Celeste selected the icon of the person on foot.

"You will arrive in 19 minutes."

"Damnit!" She sucked her teeth with the same fervor that her mother used to. "I knew I shouldn't have worn heels past the boat." After only a few minutes Celeste started to slow down. "God, I need to get a gym membership. Those yoga videos just don't cut it." Wait, was she really planning on going to the gym regularly? That meant that she would have to venture out of her cozy hiding spot a few times a week. Joining civilization was more than what she bargained for. Would Marie continue to haunt her dreams if Celeste ignored her orders? It wasn't something she was willing to risk.

She typed Lyft into the iTunes app and downloaded it. The commercials made it seem so easy. She entered the address to the abandoned house she was standing in front of and waited.

Around five minutes later a green caravan rounded the corner and stopped in front of her. The driver rolled down the window. It was a red-haired guy who looked to be in his early twenties. "Are you C-lis-te?"

"Close enough." Rarely ever was Celeste or any other variation of the name pronounced correctly. Pronounced how it's spelled, just ignore the 'e' at the end.

"I'm T-bone." He tilted his head back like she had only seen black men do to say 'hey'.

"Who does this punk ass fool think he is?" She raised her eyebrows. "Lyft said your name is Trev." She watched his confidence melt away. It was as if she had met Malibu's most wanted.

"Yeah, Trev, that's what my mama calls me, but everyone else calls me T-bone."

"I'll stick to Trev." She opened the passenger door. He had boxes of Papa Johns in the seat and she motioned for him to move them.

He stammered but moved them with a quickness. "M-most people sit in the back." Celeste got in and flipped her hair. "I'm not most people."

"I figured that much. There's no way those are contacts."

"Contacts? What are you- "She remembered the kids running away from her and stared into the rearview mirror. "Oh, God!" She blinked several times hoping that her eyes would go back to their normal hazel color. "Why can't I control it? They're going to know. Everybody is going to know!" That quickly, she had forgotten that she was in the presence of another.

"You're the first witch I've met… or are you a vampire or something?" He turned the radio down.

Was it always going to be this easy for her to be recognized as what she truly was? Both the children and Trev had figured her out in a matter of seconds. "You aren't afraid?" She wasn't sure if she wanted to be known as friendly or a force to be reckoned with. She was leaning towards the latter but figured she should try out her skills on some unsuspecting rapist or murderer.

"My great-grandmother was Mimi DeLongpre. She was the Supreme. I never met her, but I heard that she was a decent witch. I'm just hoping that you are too." He was already planning his escape in case she wasn't. Why did he always do such stupid things? Picking up a woman with red eyes, who does that shit? Maybe she had some sort of control over him or maybe it was that she was the most beautiful girl he had laid his eyes on.

"Supreme." There was that word again. "Tell me what you know about the Supreme." She tried not to appear too eager but was unsuccessful.

Trevor paused. First, he wanted to know whether she was a friend or foe. "Are you one of the voodoos or just a witch?" It wasn't easy to tell by looking at her.

"Why does that matter?"

Trevor figured that if she had to ask then she was harmless enough. "Voodoo is a religion for black people and creoles. Witches are white and do magic. They're sworn enemies."

Celeste waved her hand dismissively. "Shows what you know, my mother did both voodoo and magic. She wasn't no white woman either." She scowled and looked out of the window.

"And how did she manage to do that? Who was she, the Voodoo Queen?" Now he was just antagonizing her. "You expect me to believe that when you can't even control your little magic trick." He knew that he was treading on thin ice. He laughed so hard that if the car had been moving, they would have surely wrecked and ended up in a ditch.

She wanted to throw him out of the car and drive herself to Cornrow City but decided against it. She had never even ridden in a car before, let alone drive one. "MY MOTHER IS MARIE FUCKING LAVEAU. TRY ME." It was on the tip of her tongue. "Just take me to the shop."

When Celeste stepped out of the car she felt eyes watching her from every direction. She knew that they were the eyes of her mother's former followers. She wondered if Marie had ever mentioned her to anyone. Even if she had, there was no way anyone would recognize her. The few people who had seen her at Marie's shop when she was younger had died long ago.

Celeste stepped up to the red door that Marie claimed to have painted with the blood of white women. She had let it go in one ear and out of the other. Her mother loved nothing more than to create elaborate stories of herself triumphing over a weaker enemy. When Celeste accused her of trying to remain relevant, Marie had her wake up to a flock of at least two dozen crows crashing into her windows.

She knocked on the door before trying to twist the knob. "Hello? HELLO?"

A lights-skinned heavy chested woman who appeared to be in her late 20's opened the door. "Who you think you are trying to bust up in here like- "

She figured that her red eyes were the reason the woman backed down. "I'm Cel-."

"I know who you are and who sent you." She stepped out of her way and Celeste walked in. "I'm Chantal. I was one of Marie's girls before…" Chantal trailed off. She tilted her head back to keep the tears in her eyes from falling down her cheeks. She dabbed them with the side of her index fingers. "Anyway, Dinah is here now. The Supreme put her in charge."

"Dinah?" There was that name again. "Why is a white woman the one who gets to decide our queen? They have nothing to do with us."

"Us?" Chantal stretched her eyes and drew her head back. "Since when are you one of us?" She scoffed. From the tone of her voice Celeste knew that Marie had forced her own opinion of her onto Chantal.

"If you really know who I am then you know where I've been all of this time. You know why I'm back and what I'm here to do." She warned. Her ego had gone from 0 to 100 in a matter of seconds. She didn't know what came over her.

Chantal raised an eyebrow. "You really are your mother's child. I see her fire in you." She couldn't have been more satisfied if Marie herself walked through the front door.

"Me and my mother were nothing alike." Marie was fierce, powerful, fearless and majestic. Celeste never felt like anything special compared to her.

"But in her death, the two of you are one. The same way that the Supreme transfers her energy to the next girl in line, that's just like how it works with you and Marie. You have her power, you just have to find it in you."

"She never taught me any of this." Celeste prayed that she wasn't spilling her heart out to a potential enemy. Marie had just reminded her to be careful about who she told. Better advice would have been for her to check for any eavesdroppers before having a personal conversation.

"Hmph." Dinah appeared in the doorway. "This ought to be interesting." She wasn't a beautiful woman by any means. Even with her hair up, dressed in bright colors and adorned in jewels, she didn't hold a flame to Marie.

It was obvious that Chantal was afraid of Dinah, but she still stepped in between the two women. Celeste didn't see the point. She hadn't come prepared to fight. "Our true Queen has come to us lead us." Chantal said.

"Last I heard I was Queen." Dinah folded her arms and leaned against the door frame. Celeste was bombarded with images of Dinah signing her name in blood and summoning Satan. Satan and his minions were something Marie never dared to mess with. They made her feel as if Papa Legba, the collector of souls, was an old friend. Dinah was more ruthless than Marie had ever been, which spoke volumes. "Marie sent her doe eyed swamp brat to rule over me? I'm the best thing since Jesus Christ!"

"You will never be Queen as long as I'm alive!" Celeste stepped past Chantal.

"Oh, and what are you going to do Miss Thing? You've been here for almost two centuries and you're still goddamn useless! You probably can't even light a candle, yet you expect to be given my crown and take on the world."

Celeste felt like a bullied school girl. "Why are you even here? You aren't entitled to anything of hers."

"She doesn't have shit except for this salon and the all the crazy shit in it! Cages, alligator heads, and a couple lace-front wigs… You think I want this? I'm selling it and going back to LA. I hate the stench of New Orleans and all the poverty ridden people in it." Dinah looked disgusted.

If there was one thing Celeste hated it was people ridiculing her city. Without ever traveling to the main parts of town she knew that everything about that place and its people were special. Now here was an outsider berating everything she cared about, her mother and her city.

"You probably can't even light a candle. You probably can't even light a candle." The taunting played over and over in Celeste's head. "Get out! GET OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT!" She felt Marie raging inside her.

Dinah busted into flames and Chantal was reluctant to go over and help her. Two men rushed from a back room when they heard Dinah screaming. One took off his jacket and used it to swat at the fire, but he only made it worse. Celeste could see that the fire was working towards obliviating her. She hoped that they would be able to heal her burns.

Instead of forcing Dinah out, Celeste ran out of the front door before anyone could stop her. It was a cowardly thing to do but she had no idea what would become of her if she stayed.

Somehow being immortal didn't seem like enough to escape Dinah's wrath. She heard her scream, "Celeste I will fucking end you!"


	3. Chapter 3

[3]

In Celeste's day being Creole didn't just mean being light-skinned with pretty eyes. It was the culture of New Orleans's free people of color. They were made up of a little of everything, French, Haitian, Portuguese and Native American, so they came in every shade. They had their own cuisine, language and history. On Tumblr she saw how Beyoncé made people feel like being Creole was the new thing to be. Black folks born and raised across the country hash-tagged their photos 'creole' for the simple fact that their eyes were green. White people of the Big Easy who's 23andme DNA results came back as 4% Native American proudly penciled in Creole as if it were an ethnicity.

Never meeting her father and having practically been abandoned by her mother, Celeste never felt like her heritage was a big deal. Even if Marie were white as snow she would never claim anything other than African and Haitian descent, though Celeste suspected there was a bit of Native American down the line. Marie wasn't aware that she knew who her father was. Surely, she would have killed her rather than live with the embarrassment of Celeste knowing her secret. Her Cajun swamp mother had told her who her father was as soon as she was old enough to ask. Louis LaLaurie, a Parisian slave owner, was the only thing Marie regretted in her life. She didn't love him. She just wanted to secure her status as a placée. A placée was a woman, often a mistress, that European men kept up. Plaçage was common law marriage between women of color and the men they could never marry.

Marie had a target on Delphine LaLaurie's head way before she knew how she tortured slaves. When Delphine maimed her lover, Bastien, Marie approached Louis with the intention of killing him and everything he loved. Somehow, she got tricked into sharing a drink. She ended up with a nice cottage on St Anne after only a few sexual favors. She didn't mind the sex, it was number three on her list of free things to do in the city.

Marie hated everything about bring pregnant. She constantly complained about how her figure would be ruined. She was her normal bitchiness times ten. She hated everyone and everything, but what bothered her the most was morning sickness. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS I THINKIN'? I haven't been sick a day in my life."

"You were thinking about how much you love me." Louis tried to push a strand of hair behind her ear, but she slapped his hand away.

Marie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Don't think I don't know about what your wife did to that slave girl and her baby. That Delphine is gonna bust hell wide open for it. Poor foolish child didn't even get a chance to name it." She sneered at him. "You a sorry excuse of a man, you know that?"

"That had nothing to do with me." Louis fumbled to pull his pants up. She was going to kick him out soon.

"You think I'm stupid? That girl and her baby had everything to do with you. I know you be goin' around with other bitches so don't come to me with all of that nonsense." It was then that she got the idea to kill the whole family. "If she so much as thinks about this baby I'll rip her throat out and yours too. You know I will." Not once had she ever regretted killing a slaveowner. "I'll make gumbo out of you and sell it on Bourbon Street. I'll make a necklace of your teeth and wear it every day. I'll decimate your soul and it'll be as if you were never born." She continued with her threats until she ran out of breath.

There was nothing Marie could say that would make Louis fall out of love with her. He just nodded like an idiot in a trance. She hated to think about losing her steady income when she killed him, but she would just have to pick up her hot comb and brush again. A majority of her wrath would land on Delphine. The daughters were irrelevant as far as she was concerned but she never liked leaving projects undone. Marie had a vial of tears with Delphine's name on it. Little did she know Delphine was going to be the source of her demise.

When Celeste finally arrived Marie's joy only lasted a few minutes. She held her tight in her arms and went on and on about how beautiful she was. "My sweet precious baby." She placed kisses on her forehead.

"What you gone name her?" One of the midwives asked.

"I don't know. I thought she would be a boy." Marie scanned her brain. "Celeste. She came straight from heaven." Marie wondered why someone like herself had been given such a magnificent gift, when she had committed so many sins against God. Having to hand her daughter over was her punishment. If He wanted to make things easier for her then He would've made Celeste look like Louis.

Marie never imagined herself having children because she had always thought of them as useless little savages, so when Papa Legba asked for her first-born child she readily agreed. That deal was made right before she found out about her pregnancy. It didn't make any difference to Papa that she wanted to go back on their agreement. Her name was already on the contract. "I take it back! I can be mortal again!" She had begged.

Legba was coming to take the baby at 3am but Marie already had a newborn in her armoire. In those days parents eagerly offered up their babies in exchange for Marie's blessings. Swap two creole babies and Papa Legba would never know the difference. If Celeste was ever going to have a chance at life she had to stay far away from Marie. If he knew that she tricked him out of taking what she loved the most then both Marie and Celeste would have a first-class ticket to hell.

"The white woman is here for her." A young nervous midwife ushered her into Marie's bedroom.

Marie started to cry. "I'm Marie Laveau and this is my baby girl. I named her Celeste." She had summoned a lonely swamp witch with the power of necromancy to raise her baby. They had never met each other but their spirits connected when Marie sent out her inaudible call of distress.

The blonde woman walked over to Marie's bed, leaving muddy boot tracks behind her. She peered at Celeste. "Aww, now this little cub will make a wonderful sidekick." Had Marie met her any other time, she would have mocked her drawl. She sounded like she was speaking with a mouthful of tar.

"Please make sure you keep watch over her." Marie begged.

"Of course. Not that she needs much protection to begin with. Your immortality extended on to her."

"How do you know?" This mystery woman knew way more about Marie than Marie did of her. Everyone from Mexico to New York knew about Marie, the sultry and frightening high priestess. She could do the unfathomable; knock over dozens of her pagan followers by simply blowing in their direction, get murders off by placing hot peppers under her tongue, let the heads of men destined to hang slip through the loop of a noose.

This woman didn't fear Marie. She had blessed her with a gift she always dreamed of. "I sense all sorts of things. Mostly life forces and danger. There's a dark spirit out for this baby." She warned.

"That's why I called out for help. I'm so glad you heard me." Marie began to swaddle the baby. She wanted to keep her shielded from the cool night air.

"I feel like we're doing the right thing." She offered her a smile. "I'll keep her nice and hidden deep in the swamp." Somehow Marie trusted this stranger to take better care of her baby than she trusted herself. Mystery Witch was surrounded in a white light. It felt as if Marie were placing her child in the arms of an angel. "I'll keep her safe Miss Marie. We're gonna be on our way now. A storm is brewin' and I wanna get back to the cabin."

"I love you Celeste. Be a good girl." She kissed Celeste one last time. "But milk?"

"Swamp water has hundreds of uses if you know what you're doing. It's what I grew up on." She placed Celeste in her beige crochet bag and snapped the buttons together. "My name is Misty by the way."

Celeste spent the first 10 years of her life, the best years of her life, with her swamp mother, Misty Day. By the time Celeste was five she was fully independent. Swamp Mother made sure she could read and do math just as well as any other child. She taught her about every animal, insect and plant that lived in the surrounding swamps. Celeste knew how to make tonics and salves from swamp mud and herbs. She was one with the forest and there would never be a place she loved more. During the day she would lay out in the yard with Misty and watch the birds soar above them. During the night they would go to sleep counting the stars while crickets sang to them. There were times when Celeste wondered if she could communicate with animals. If she concentrated hard enough the snakes would dance to the beautiful songs she sang in her head. For a while she was content.

When she started to go along with Misty on food runs she had several questions about the outside world. Who were all those people and where were they all rushing to? At 7, when she became curious about her real parents Misty would walk her past Marie's home. They'd do that once or twice a year. Misty made it a point to mention that they had to be careful not to let anyone see them.

One night when a light was on in Marie's front room Celeste slipped out of Misty's reach and ran up to the door. She knocked with all her might and Marie rushed to the door wrapped in her housecoat. She looked around but didn't see anyone.

"Down here Mama!" She squeaked.

"Oh Lord, Chile!" Marie's mouth hung wide open and she quickly snatched Celeste inside by her collar. She held her chest. If she were mortal she would have had a heart attack. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Marie shook her.

"I'm Celeste. I wanted to see you…" She trailed off. She didn't know how much trouble she was in and whether Misty or Marie would be the one to whoop her. A tear rolled down her cheek.

Marie quickly wiped it away. "You ain't supposed to be here! I should have known you'd be hard headed!" She paced the room.

"Are you mad at me?" Celeste held her head down and her curls completely covered her face. She was sniffling.

"Yeah, I'm mad! It's a reason you can't to be around here Lily Pad! You have to go now! RIGHT NOW!" She hated doing this to her daughter and seeing her little face crumble, but she had to do what she had to do. "Here." She filled Celeste's pockets with candy. "Now don't come back!" She quickly kissed the top of her head and pushed her out of the door.

Celeste sobbed all the way home while she ate her candy. When she got to the cabin Misty wasn't there waiting. She never saw her swamp mother again.


	4. Chapter 4

[4]

 _"Lily Pad. Lily Pad."_ Marie called to her in a singsong voice.

Celeste knew straight away that her mother was coming by to get on her nerves. Half asleep, she covered her head with her pillow. _"Go away Mama."_ She had been sleeping somewhat decently.

 _"Now, is that any way to greet the dead?"_ Marie flipped her hair. She had changed clothes and hairstyles since she'd last seen her. Leave it to her to bribe a minion to get the latest couture and a couple of Brazilian bundles.

 _"Aren't dead people supposed to rest in peace… or in your case, hell?"_

 _"Mama's had a hard day."_ Marie sighed dramatically. "It's been a few hours since you've seen me, but where I came from it felt like ten years. I'm starting to think I'm not cut out for hell." She groaned as sweat rolled down her forehead and lifted her arms to show Celeste the stains under her armpits. _"They ain't got no Degree or Secret there! Everybody damn musty! It's not no water to wash your ass! I can keep going…"_

 _"But they have Chanel? Your ass even brought a purse with you!"_

 _"Shut the hell up! You don't know what I had to do to get this clutch and jumper."_ She scowled. Celeste's smart mouth always got the best of her.

 _"What am I supposed to do, send you care packages?"_ She smirked. She'd be lying if she said she didn't get a kick out of riling up her mother now that she had the upper hand. It was payback for all the times she hurt her feelings. _"I don't know why you expect central air. You killed babies."_

 _"You know damn well I didn't kill no babies! I just passed them on. They didn't feel nothin'."_ Marie gave her the side eye.

 _"Maybe not, but I'm sure their parents did."_

 _"You steady tryin' to bring up the past."_ Marie switched across the room with a hand on her hip. It was obvious that something was on her mind. _"Listen, I want you to bring me back."_ She hated showing her weaknesses but living in hell was enough to make her swallow her pride. She knew how much Celeste loved her and could never decide whether it made her pitiful or pathetic. Marie was leaning towards the latter. Even though she had abandoned Celeste, criticized her every chance she got and completely disregarded her feelings, she knew that Celeste would still do anything and everything to make her happy. Acceptance was all she wanted in return.

Celeste chuckled. _"And how do you expect me to do that? I'm sure you saw how I handled everything at the salon today. The one thing I managed to do got completely out of hand. I might have murdered someone."_ She didn't mean to set Dinah on fire, but she didn't regret it either.

 _"Ahhh, she ain't dead."_ Marie waved her hand dismissively. _"You have to maim a bitch here or there if you want to make progress. How else do you expect to get to the top?"_

 _"You call that progress? I'm sure she's going to come after me now."_ Celeste turned over in bed and fluffed her pillow.

 _"What you worried about? You're immortal."_

 _"Yeah, so were you and look how that worked out."_

Marie started to shake the bed violently. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP!" She let out her shrill war cry. Her eyes clouded over and her tongue moved around wildly in her head. God, Marie was as obnoxious as they came.

Celeste sat straight up. "What the hell are you doing? STOP!" Marie was standing at the foot of her bed laughing. Had it been any other spirit Celeste would have pissed on herself. Marie tended to do that to people. "I'm awake and I can see you." She wanted to pinch herself but figured it would be cliché.

"Yeah but not for long. I'm runnin' out of my vacation time foolin' with you." She sighed.

Celeste wiped the sleep out of her eyes. "Why haven't I ever seen you when I was awake?"

Marie threw up her arms. "Because your lazy ass never bothered to wake up when I made my visits." She scanned the room. "You must have been selling cocaine on the side. How else could you afford this place?"

"Mind your business Mama." She was the author of 12 New York Times bests sellers, but she still had an illegal side hustle that she would to take to her 'grave'.

Raising a perfectly arched eyebrow Marie asked, "You screwin' around with a rich man? That's my girl!" She dropped her voice down to a whisper, "If you really want to trap him then you'll have his baby."

Celeste rolled her eyes and threw her legs over the edge of the bed. There was no way she was getting to sleep anytime soon. "You sound ridiculous. I've never even been with a man."

Marie gasped and doubled over laughing. "The 100 and something year old virgin!" Marie lived and breathed sex. Without it, her immortality would have been pointless. "Those toys from Amazon just don't get the job done, do they Lily Pad?" She cackled.

Celeste's face was beet red. "Feel free to go back to hell whenever you're ready." She brushed past Marie and went to the den to escape her badgering.

Marie just followed behind her. "Turn on the TV. It's something you need to see." She struggled to catch her breath. "Fox."

"Damnit, I hate Fox News." She was a liberal through and through, but Fox stood for everything she hated. The last straw was when she saw how the network handled everything that revolved around the Trayvon Martin case.

"Damn white devils!" She remembered Marie saying.

"You're giving off those racist vibes again." Celeste warned. Whenever Marie went on her tangents it was hard to shut her up.

"There's no such thing as being racist towards white people! Hell, they got it all! Nowadays white folks be gettin' mad, talkin' 'bout 'reverse racism'. All they tryin' to do is justify why they treat us like the ole' scraps in the slop bucket. The decent white people that acknowledge our struggle are the ONLY ones I respect. If you don't care about everything we've gone through as a people, then I don't give a damn about you." Marie looked as if she dared Celeste to disagree with her.

Celeste could have kicked herself. "I shouldn't have even brought it up."

"Hmph!" Marie turned her nose up at her.

Celeste knew exactly what she had to say to put her mother in her place. "Then why did you have me by a slave owner?"

"WHO THE HELL TOLD YOU THAT SHIT?" Marie's brown skin rarely ever flushed, but now her face matched her matte red lipstick.

"Misty did. She told me everything."

"See, and that's why I'll never trust a white woman again. I'm sure she had you full of parasites. Hell, you probably still got some now… Givin' my child swamp water." It was just like Marie to deflect the subject off herself. She struggled to turn on the television. "Can't work this expensive shit." She mumbled to herself while staring Celeste up and down as if she had done something wrong. "Should have gotten me this TV last Christmas. All I do for your ass and I get a MacBook Air, not the MacBook Pro, but the MacBook Air."

"Just give it here Mama." She caught the flying remote that Marie purposely aimed at her head. "You've never given me anything."

"I gave you immortality and I gave you candy when I tossed you out of the house. You mean to tell me that's not enough? Most parents don't even let their children eat candy." She did her infamous hair flip again and motioned to the TV. "Turn it on."

Celeste hit the power button and the TV made a futuristic chirping noise. "Any idiot can do it." She gave Marie the side eye before skimming through the channels. She stopped on Fox. The headline read 'Cordelia Goode reveals Witch Coven'. There was a beautiful blonde being interviewed. Celeste knew she wasn't just any woman, she was the Supreme and she was magnificent.

Interviewer: Ever since your extraordinary public statement last month there's been quite a bit of fanfare. Your frank revelation about your cult has sparked quite a bruhaha in the media…

Cordelia: Let me Clarify Bill, we are not a cult. We don't proselytize, we have no agenda, we're not recruiting. Women who identify as witches are born as such and their abilities, which we call powers, are part of who they are. Part of their DNA if you will.

Interviewer: I see, so, in fact you're saying it's not a choice to be a witch?

Cordelia: That's exactly what I'm saying. There are so many young witches who have resisted their calling because they're afraid of how they may be perceived, or what's expected of them.

Interviewer: But there are still hate crimes…

Cordelia: That is true, but, you know, when you hide in the shadows you are less visible, you have less protection. We'll always be targets for the ignorant. It is what it is. But we are strong women Bill.

Interviewer: So what would you like to say to all the girls watching and wondering if they might be witches?"

Cordelia: Call us, email us, or just come to New Orleans. There is a home and a family waiting for you.

(504) 555- 0186

cordelia

Celeste had to meet Cordelia. She felt as if this woman held the secrets of the universe in her radiant brown eyes. "I'll go."

Marie was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 2: Meet the Coven**

 **[5]**

Celeste woke up to find herself floating in bed. This was the type of shit that happened in horror movies. Somehow it was Marie's doing. Celeste screamed and landed on the bed with a loud thud. There was a note on her pillow.

Lily Pad,

Stop by my tomb before you go see Cordelia.

Never say I haven't done anything for your ungrateful ass.

-Marie Laveau, HBIC

After completing her morning routine, Celeste left for Saint Louise Cemetery #1. It was where her mother was allegedly entombed. She wondered why Marie would send her there when she always made fun of both the tourists and the gothic New Orleanians for their ignorance of what was going on in the real voodoo community. "These fools think I'm going to grant their wishes just because they make three lil X's on that tomb and leave all of those cheap gifts!" She had laughed maniacally.

The cemetery was miles away. Celeste wasn't going to give another Lyft driver the opportunity to figure her out. As she unloaded her matte black bicycle she wondered if she paid too much for it, being that it had been forgotten about. She had to pull a pair of sneakers out of the back of her closet. They were Nike's, they were bright red, they were overpriced, but they were glorious.

Whoever said that a person never forgets how to ride a bike didn't know there would ever be a 185-year-old woman trying to remember. She was a teenager the first and last time she rode one and it really showed. By the time Celeste got to the cemetery both palms and knees were skinned. She groaned when she saw a group of tourists laughing at their own shitty jokes as they made their way to Marie's defaced tomb. It'd be easier to blend in with the others than to wait for the guide to finish his fabricated tale.

"Marie Laveau ruled over the city of New Orleans from her teens to her death in 1881." A large man with a huge voice and a sun visor started.

Celeste put on her sunglasses in case she felt the uncontrollable urge to roll her eyes.

"Marie Laveau began her life as a devout Catholic. The story goes that when she was a young teen she went to St. Louis Cathedral and approached the priest declaring that she wanted to become a nun. In the early 1800s there were no black or creole nuns, so she was told that it would never happen. It was then that she turned away from the catholic church and entered into the frightening world of voodoo."

"Hmph, a nun with a sex addiction?"

"She was remarkably beautiful as you all will see for yourselves in the voodoo museum."

Celeste was glad she thought to bring her shades along with her on such a gloomy day. They certainly came in handy. Yes, Marie was beautiful, but she was not the woman in the pictures. She never would have entertained the thought of sitting in the same position for hours on end just to have a painting done of herself that she wouldn't be able to stare at every moment of every day. These were just imposters who wanted attention and a few bucks. With that being said, none of the paintings resembled her mother at all.

"Even though Marie Laveau lived the life of a sadist she occasionally did good work for the community of New Orleans. She freed slaves on several occasions and in the 1830s she killed Madame Delphine LaLaurie for torturing her servants. You'll hear more about Madame LaLaurie at our next location."

"Freeing slaves? More like killing plantation owners for various reasons and telling the help to 'make a run for it.' These idiots really give her too much credit. She wasn't looking out for LaLaurie's slaves, she was getting revenge for Bastien. Having me just threw her off a bit, time wise."

"Legend has it that Marie Laveau would create a concoction containing the blood of missing infants. She bathed in the blood daily to maintain her youth and vibrancy. It was said that on her dying day she didn't look a day over the age of 40." She noticed that the man (whose name tag read Rick) had been giving this story his all. She assumed that he must have been a former acting major who never made it into the business. Rick's theatrics were amazing. He made grandiose movements and changed the tone of his voice to match the tone of each segment. The crowd hung to his every word.

Celeste considered leaving him a tip since she hadn't bothered to pay for the tour. "This would be amazing if only any of the things he's saying were true."

"Word around town was that she was also the Madame of her own brothel. She never confirmed nor denied the rumors, so whether you decide to believe this one is up to you." He finally mentioned a real fact, yet he basically told the tourists to take it as a grain of salt. "It has often been said that Marie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl,"

Celeste's ears perked up. "Wow, people know about me?"

"whom she later ate during a satanic ritual." Rick finished.

Her smile faded away and she let out an exaggerated sigh. What kind of bullshit tour was this?

"Is there something you would like to say ma'am?" Celeste acted as if she didn't hear him and leaned against the tomb. Rick continued but kept a close eye on her. He was worried that she would ruin his performance like so many other tourists had done before. He put so much work into delivering his lines flawlessly that he never took the time he needed to explore the subject of Marie Laveau any further than the pamphlet his boss had given them. If she had a question for him or called him out on any historic inconsistences he would be in an extremely awkward situation. Rick decided to cut the presentation short. "She died of natural causes at the age of 81, but some claimed to have seen her spirit in town several years after her death." The crowd dispersed whispering amongst themselves.

"Hmph. That sure would have made things a lot easier for me." Celeste found herself standing in front of Marie's tomb alone. She looked around for another note but there were only flowers, beads, and candles. "Mama what the hell am I supposed to be looking for? There's nothing here of any value."

"Pick up that homemade candle."

There was a multicolored candle in a mason jar that still hade the lid on it. Celeste did as she was told and found a car key. "What am I supposed to do with this? I don't drive."

"You better learn cause there's a Tesla parked around the corner. Your ass wasn't gonna make it to Delia's before the storm if you kept fallin' off that bike."

Celeste spotted the sleek silver Tesla half a block away from the cemetery. She prayed that she wasn't breaking any laws. There was no telling what Marie had done to make this happen. What idiot would leave an $80,000 gift as an offering? By the time she figured out how to unlock the door and crank up the car it started to drizzle. It had only been driven 23 miles, so she figured the pleasant scent was that 'new car smell' everyone went on about. She opened the glove compartment and found that there was a title in her name, a registration card and a fake license. It had a picture of the Disney channel actress and Celeste's name. Cornrow City was listed as her address, her height 5'9 and weight a little higher than she wanted it to be. She rummaged through the compartment looking for an insurance card but only found a $25 gift card to Chick-fil-A. She had read an article that claimed Chick-fil-A was the bee's knees of fast food.

"I guess I can try one of those chicken sandwiches if the academy doesn't provide dinner." She put the car into drive and it started to roll slowly on its own. Not knowing the difference between the brakes and gas, she slammed on the gas pedal to make it stop. Celeste ran straight in to a light pole. "Damnit!" She put the car in reverse and pressed the breaks. After several minutes she figured out the purpose of each pedal and how to keep the car from going off the road.

"Should have just gotten you a bus pass." She could hear Marie chuckling.

Celeste put the car into drive and for the first mile or so it lurched every few seconds as she slammed on the breaks. She wiped the sweat from her forehead. "I think I'm getting used to it. Just 2 more miles..." She weaved in and out of traffic. When she got to a stoplight she slammed on breaks, hitting the police car in front of her. "I'm going to jail!" She said out loud and started to cry.

The blue lights came on and a white man got out of the car. The traffic behind them went around. He was the stereotypical cop with his buzzed haircut, black ray bans and a beer belly. He motioned for her to roll down the window and she did so reluctantly. "You cryin' already?" He flashed her an evil grin. "Where did you learn how to drive toots?"

"Toots? Who the hell still uses that word?" She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Ohh, I love it when they cry." He thought to himself.

Celeste's heart started to beat fast. She had never heard anyone else's thoughts besides Marie's. "What the hell is this fool talking about? Who the hell gets pleasure out of someone else's pain besides a psychopath?"

"Are you even old enough to drive without an adult present?" He leaned his head in the car to look around even though she was obviously alone. She turned her head to keep him from breathing in her face. He reeked of alcohol. He ran his nose across her cheek and she jerked away.

"The nerve! He thinks he can get away with doing this in broad daylight!" She prayed that some brave citizen would come to her rescue but that wasn't going to happen. "I-" She wasn't sure if she was more afraid of the women in prison or what the cop would do if he got her alone. "I'm sorry." She wept.

The cop rubbed her shoulder. She was paralyzed with fear. She had never been close to any man, and here was this nasty old one planning on using her to get off. He covered up the mic on his body cam. "Do what I say and I'll take it easy on you." He winked at her. "Now, I'm not taking you to jail but you do need to be punished for what you did to my car." He pretended to think for a few seconds "Follow me down to the end of the street because I need to frisk you and I imagine that it'll be too embarrassing for you if I do it right here." He was licked his lips. His eyes had darkened.

Celeste saw images of women being tortured. It was as if everything was happening right in front of her. Whether they were acting out their strange sexual fantasies or had been kidnapped she didn't know, but it still made her sick to her stomach. Two women were chained to the walls and the other was hogtied. They were in what appeared to be a basement and there was a man with a whip laughing like a hyena. Even though he wore a mask Celeste knew that the officer was the culprit. She noticed that his badge read Roc. "I'm going to report this sick fuck!"

"Girl you better hightail out of there. He wants a taste of caramel!" Marie seemed to be amused.

"Shut up!" Celeste said aloud. The cop thought she was talking to him.

His face turned beat red. "Step out of the car ma'am."

"Go away, go away. Just please go away!" Celeste said to herself and closed her eyes tight. When she opened them, she saw him turn around and walk right into traffic. Celeste screamed when she saw his bloody body sprawled out in the road.

She rushed away from the scene before the offending truck could even come to a complete stop. She gagged the entire way to the school but managed not to vomit in her new car. She wondered how the vehicle managed to make it the whole way there. The light post really done a number on it.


	6. Chapter 6

[6]

Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies.

1410 Jackson Ave

New Orleans, LA 70130

"Wow." Celeste screeched to a halt in front of a gigantic white house. Her mouth hung open. "Someone here is getting paper."

It didn't look like an academy for witches, but then again, what is the average witch academy supposed to look like? Besides the cabin she shared with Misty, she had only been in one house her entire lifetime. That was Marie's and she had been there less than a minute before getting kicked out, so she didn't know what to expect. Most of all, she worried about how many people would be there. Being around the tourists, about 8 people, was the most she had been around in 120 years and she hadn't spoken a word to any of them. She hoped she could make a friend her age or at least someone who looked to be about the same age. She wasn't sure how many people in New Orleans were immortal like her, but she doubted there would be any 185-year-old girls there.

She hesitantly got out of the car. "Well, there's no going back now." As she approached the house she noticed that the attic light was on. A tall man with stringy hair glanced at her angrily.

"Great, another witch bitch."

She gasped. She didn't know how to feel about being able to read other people's minds. Listening to her mother pester her was enough.

"I need a sangria." Marie sighed and Celeste rolled her eyes.

The academy was beautiful with its manicured lawn and tall white columns. She approached the gate and noticed that there was an engraved message at her feet.

FROM EDUCATION, AS THE LEADING CAUSE

THE PUBLIC CHARACTER ITS COLOR DRAWS

"I guess that makes sense." Celeste thought about it for a minute. "I didn't realize it would be that type of school." She had been picturing an environment more like Marie's shop, not one with a poem at the entrance. She turned her attention to the locked gate and yanked at it to no avail. She closed her eyes tight and pictured the gate unlocking. When Celeste heard the click she peeked out of one eye and saw that she was now free to enter. Yet again, she had impressed herself.

She walked up the wrap around porch and gently knocked on the door. After a few seconds of not hearing any footsteps Celeste knocked a little louder. Nothing. She checked the door and found that it was unlocked. She peeped in and didn't see a soul. She took a step inside and closed the door behind her. Before her was a grand double staircase. Believe it or not, she had never walked up a flight of stairs before she stepped foot on the porch.

Celeste took a few more steps inside. Nothing. She fought the urge to call out. After all, she was breaking and entering. Who knew if the occupants were gun-toting Republicans with an agenda to take out all blacks, well black-ish in her case. She creeped around a corner and saw the beautiful woman from the news signing papers. "Miss Cordelia?"

She gasped and held her chest. "Oh my God! You scared the daylights out of me!" Cordelia tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear.

"Sorry, the front door was unlocked. I knocked a few times, but no one answered." She wondered if she were to flee the scene now would the police be able to track her down.

"Geez, what happened to the staff in this place?" Cordelia rubbed her temples.

Celeste took a step closer. Cordelia had good vibes. For the most powerful witch on earth, she wasn't threatening at all. "I saw you on television last night. I'm supposed to be a witch. My mother was –"

"Marie Laveau. She told me you were coming but she didn't say when."

"I'm sorry. I should have called first. I ran into a bit of a situation before I got here."

"Are you hurt?" Cordelia didn't know her from Adam but still showed just as much concern as Celeste would have expected from a new mother.

"No, just startled."

"Your mother left a note for me last night, a very Marie-like note. I believe she copied the movie Harry Potter. Strange, because she doesn't seem like the type who'd watch children's movies."

"I guess Harry Potter is for everyone, even the wicked." Celeste took a deep breath before asking, "Can I see it?"

Cordelia shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I'm used to her, I can take it."

Cordelia opened her desk and handed her the letter. It opened itself in Celeste's hands and Marie's voice took over the room.

Cordelia,

I'm sorry for the loss of your mother even though we all know the bitch deserved it. I'm writing to let you know I'm sending my naive daughter, Celeste, to see you. I kept her hidden all her life for reasons that are none of your concern. She's 100 and something years old, but still looks like a bratty teenager. I hate children, but I actually love her. Not much, just enough to call me a mother. I've had cats that I cared more about.

Celeste rolled her eyes.

I took the opportunity to donate $100,000 to the academy when I stole her credit card and bought her a Tesla.

"Of course, you'll get that back." Cordelia chimed in.

I assume she'll fuck it up like everything else she's done in her life. Anyways, I just ask that you keep a watch on this fool while she's out in the world. Celeste doesn't understand life outside of the swamp and is likely to get kidnapped. She also needs to complete the seven wonders. I don't know why your lily-white ass took it upon yourself to decide who becomes the voodoo queen in the black community, but you fucked up big time. Dinah Stevens knows damn well she can't perform the seven wonders. She's more evil and power hungry than Fiona. Celeste tried to burn her alive and left Dinah disfigured. I imagine she'll be coming for her soon. Luckily, she's immortal but she still needs guidance. She can already perform pyrokinesis, concilium, and telekinesis, but she will need help learning the others. Tell her to make sure she gets Queenie's fat ass for taking me down in the first place. She really done messed with the wrong witch. I'm sending all my people after her ass. Tell that trashy Madison to help her get laid while she's in town. She's a virgin. Ain't that a shame?

Celeste blushed.

Matter of fact, it can be either a man or a woman. I really don't give a shit. She's desperate for a one-night stand with anybody. Doesn't that little Frankenstein boy sleep with anything that walks?

-Marie Laveau, HBIC

"Now you see why I didn't think you should read it." Cordelia felt sorry for the poor girl.

Celeste shrugged. "She's always been like this. It's not much of a shocker. I just can't believe she said she actually loves me." This was the first time she heard it come out of Marie's mouth. Sure, Misty had told her several times that Marie loved her enough to send her to the swamp, but she always doubted it.

"I know how that feels. If you would've met my mother you'd understand."

"Did you ever meet Marie?"

"Oh yeah. She's quite a handful. She lived with us for about two weeks. I never would have known that you two are related. You're so calm. She was overly dramatic and she smoked pot with a hookah."

"Imagine hearing her thoughts from hell all the time. She's always talking shit."

"Really? My mother never speaks to me."

"You're lucky."

"How close were you two?"

"For the last few decades she started to visit me in my dreams every month or so."

"How old are you if you don't mind me asking?"

"185."

"You don't even look legal."

"Imagine how things play out when I go to buy alcohol.'

"You seem very familiar."

"I've heard that before."

"You've been hiding in the swamps your whole life?"

"I come out once or twice a year to get the essentials. I live on a boat."

"Alone for all that time?"

"I have a television and a hotspot so I'm a little up to date. A boy not far from the swamp brings me groceries."

"I can't imagine how that must feel. You're young and beautiful. You should be out having fun."

"Thank you." Celeste blushed. "So are you. You were a breath of fresh air when I saw you on TV."

They heard the faint sound of a fire flickering. A young blonde girl dressed in Chanel lit her cigarette without using a lighter or a match. Celeste felt relieved to see someone with a love for designer clothes and the exact same power she possessed.

"You don't have to lie to Delia. She looked average at best. She got that dress from the Gap."

"Madison we've talked about you smoking in the house."

Madison sighed dramatically. "You used to let Harriet Tubman with the box braids do it. Guess I have to be a sassy black woman born into slavery to get that same treatment." She flipped her hair before walking out the back door and slamming it behind her.

Celeste raised an eyebrow. "Did she just say what I think she said?"

"You'll have to excuse to her. She's on more drugs than Courtney Love."

Celeste noticed a painting of her swamp mother on an adjacent wall. How she hadn't seen it before she didn't know. "Is that Misty Day?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"She took care of me until I was ten years old."

"175 years ago? She couldn't possibly have been that old. She died 2 weeks ago. None of that makes sense. Are you sure this is who you're talking about?"

"This is definitely her! She must have been immortal too."

"But she'd dead."

"So is my mother. The same thing must have happened to them. I don't know the whole story. How did you all meet?" "Did she know Papa Legba?"

"Papa Legba? Who's Papa Legba?"

"The spirit that gave my mother immortality. He's the one I was hiding from. She was supposed to offer me up to him, but she replaced me with another baby."

"Oh my God."

"I didn't know anything about him. Maybe there is a connection. I really don't think Misty has the heart to murder a baby."

"She definitely doesn't. She was a great mom to me until she left me all alone."

"Why did she leave you?"

"I went to knock on Marie's door and she just vanished."

"She was probably afraid of what Marie would do to her. Marie isn't exactly forgiving."

"You're exactly right. She's still angry with me for being overdue."

"Just like Fiona. I need to find her record book. So many new girls are moving into our houses. I need to get their information."

"It's in the bottom drawer of her bedside table."

"Divination." Cordelia gasped. "Another one of the seven wonders. Show me pyrokinesis."

She lit three white candles across the room.

"Good. Now concilium?"

"What does that mean?"

"It's like mind control."

"I killed a cop who was harassing me. He walked in the middle of traffic and got hit by a semi."

"Jesus! I'm so glad you're here. We can help you control that."

Madison stood in the doorframe and twisted her blonde hair around her finger. "She means to suppress it. We haven't even had one class at this shit show."

"I'm completely lost. How did all of this start with my mother?"

"You may want to take a seat."

Celeste sat on the white sofa. "Wow, this furniture is expensive." She thought to herself and turned her attention back to Cordelia.

Madison took a seat on the piano bench. "Let's see how accurately Foxy explains this one. Don't leave out any details."

"Madison will you excuse us? I'd like to talk to Celeste alone."

"I'm a part of this lousy coven too. You can't leave me out. I have every right to be here." She tossed her hair over her shoulder.

Celeste actually liked this Madison girl. Eventually, she'd have to let that racist comment about Marie slide.

"Just don't interrupt me with your one-liners."

"I will if you don't tell the truth. This doe eyed knock off Disney princess should know the truth before she decides to join this fucked up circus you call a school."

Cordelia blew out a deep breath before pacing around the room. She racked her brain trying to figure out where to begin. "It started when my mother took the girls to Delphine LaLaurie's house for a field trip. By some miracle they discovered that Delphine had been buried alive. I guess you can figure out who was responsible for that."

"My mother."

"Wait, wait, wait! Why the hell is this bitch here if she belongs to the Voodoo Queen? She's here to exact revenge."

"Who you calling a bitch?"

"Girls, girls, calm down. Madison I can assure you that Celeste isn't here to cause any problems. She was sent here for our help. She's one of us."

"She's into that voodoo shit. She's not one of us! Bad enough you let that human voodoo doll come here, now the daughter of our enemy!"

"Marie was our ally by the time she joined us. My late husband was an undercover witch hunter and massacred her entire staff."

"Undercover witch hunter? How did you miss that?"

"That's exactly what I said." Madison added.

"Girls, let me get back to the story. My mother, Fiona, was as vain as they come. She wanted Marie to give her immortality just like she had given Delphine. As you can imagine that didn't go well. My mother had broken the truce we made with the Voodoos decades ago. We weren't supposed to cross into their territory, but my mother foolishly ignored the rules that were set in place."

"Tell her how Fiona killed that horse and sent it to her." Madison got comfortable on the bench and leaned back on her boney elbow.

"It was a minotaur Madison, not a horse."

"Bastien."

"The cat and mouse game between Marie and Fiona went back and forth until her shop was gunned down."

"I'd say she had it coming." Madison added.

"How did she die?"

"I think that question is better left unanswered."

"Precious did it." Madison said simply.

"Precious?"

"She means Queenie. For Delphine to die, Marie had to be killed since Delphine was a creation of hers. Queenie and Spaulding convinced Delphine to scatter Marie's body across town. Without being able to uphold her end of her yearly promise to… Papa Legba, you called him, he sent them both on a first-class ticket to hell."

"I missed a lot living out in the swamp."

"Swamp? You came from a swamp just like that smelly naive bitch, Misty Day?"

Celeste shot her a look and the painting of her swamp mother went flying towards Madison at lightning speed. If Madison's reflexes were any slower, she would have ended up in the emergency room."

"I'd expect better aim from the spawn of Marie Laveau." Madison said sheepishly. "What's your problem?"

"She was a close friend of Misty's. I'd advise you not to mouth off about her or Marie when you're around Celeste. She's much more powerful than you Madison."

"Like I'll ever believe that. Her telekinesis is sloppier than Nan's."

"She almost sent you to the hospital. Celeste is set to become the new Voodoo Queen."

"Yeah right. You already appointed that beetle faced Dinah. She's going to fuck everything up, you know?"

"That's why Celeste is here. As her sister witches I'm making you all responsible for teaching her the seven wonders."

"Jesus!" Madison rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm Madison Montgomery, movie star."


End file.
